Adam Walker Collection (VMF176), 1786-1787 | MSS Manuscripts

Adam Walker (1731–1821) was an English inventor, writer, and popular science. He was the son of a woolen manufacturer in Patterdale, Westmorland, England. Mainly self-taught, he attended fashionable lectures on experimental philosophy in Manchester and established his own school there in 1762. In 1766, he purchased the “philosophical apparatus” of an itinerant lecturer, William Griffith. For publicity he inserted advertisements in local papers and wrote a book entitled Syllabus of a Course on Natural Philosophy (Kendal, 1766). His syllabus covered ‘Astronomy, the use of Globes, Pneumatics, Electricity, Magnetism, Chemistry, Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Hydraulics, Engineering, Fortifications, and Optics.’ As a lecturer he travelled the north of England, using Manchester as a base.

He settled in London after many years as a travelling science lecturer. He was responsible for the introduction of the Eidouranion and an improved type of harpsichord. He also had an interest in astronomy. His numerous popular works on science included An Epitome of Astronomy.

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Acquisition Note: Source: Gift of the family of Joseph Coolidge.

Preferred Citation:Name of the Collection, Washington University Libraries, Department of Special Collections

Scope and Contents: 1786-1787. Lectures on natural history, specifically meteorology, given in [Manchester] by Dr. Walker and recorded in shorthand by Thomas M. Randolph, a student. The lectures serve as an introduction to natural history, i.e. the history of the atmosphere and its phenomena. This copy was written out by William Anderson. Includes index. Manuscript, bound with leather covers. Signed by Randolph, with explanatory note concerning the origin of the work. No title page, circa 325 pages